The Liberal/National Coalition's vision for a safe and secure NSW

Under Labor, crime rates in NSW have risen across almost all categories. The public has lost confidence in sentences handed down by the courts.

The NSW Liberal/National Coalition will confront crime and restore safety to our streets by returning police to local communities and increasing sentences for serious criminals. After eight years, Labor has failed to reduce crime and improve safety across NSW. Labor has downgraded police stations and failed to address weak sentences handed down by the courts to murderers, rapists, paedophiles and drug dealers.

After eight years Labor has failed in crime and safety in NSW:

• sexual assault is up by 62 per cent;
• robbery without a weapon is up 77 per cent;
• armed Robbery (robbery with a firearm} is up 30 per cent;
• assault is up by 73 per cent; and
• Labor remains well short of its promised target of 14,400 police "available for duty".

Compulsory Minimum Sentences

The Liberal/National Coalition will deliver justice in NSW through tough compulsory minimum sentences. Under Labor:

• the most common gaol sentence for murder is just 14 years, despite the maximum being life imprisonment;
• the most common gaol sentence for aggravated sexual assault (violent rape) is just three years, despite the maximum being 20 years; and
• the median gaol sentence for heroin dealers who supply a large commercial quantity is 4.5 years, despite the maximum being life.

The Liberal/National Coalition will introduce compulsory minimum sentences for serious violent offences including:

• first-degree murder, attracting a compulsory minimum sentence of 25 years;
• second-degree murder, attracting a compulsory minimum sentence of l5 years;
• murder of a police officer, attracting a compulsory life sentence;
• serious assault on a police officer, attracting a compulsory minimum sentence of four years;
• gang rape, attracting a compulsory minimum sentence of l5 years;
• aggravated sexual assault (violent rape), attracting a compulsory minimum sentence of 10 years;
• those convicted of dealing in a large commercial quantity of hard drugs will receive a compulsory minimum sentence of 10 years; and
• crimes proven to be motivated by "hate" will attract a compulsory 25 per cent increase in the penalty imposed.

Providing for Oversight of the Director of Public Prosecution

A Liberal/National Coalition government will establish a seven-year fixed term for the appointment of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and a Parliamentary Committee of Oversight for the Office of the DPP that will:

• monitor, review and report to Parliament on the performance of the DPP;
• seek explanations of decisions that confuse or distress victims or conflict with community values and expectations;
• have the power to recommend that the Attorney General ask the DPP to reconsider their decisions; and
• make recommendations on annual taxpayer funding and comment on budget management.

In appropriate cases where the DPP fails to appeal against lenient sentences, a Liberal/National Coalition Attorney General will exercise his or her right to appeal the case.

Plea Bargaining

A Liberal/National Coalition government will change the process of plea-bargaining to ensure justice is served by:

• consulting victims of crime on plea bargains;
• announcing to the court that plea bargaining is being entered into in any given case; and
• establishing a sentence discount of no more than 10 per cent when plea-bargaining is used.

Protecting Children from Criminals

A Liberal/National Coalition government will introduce compulsory minimum sentences for sex crimes against children - and ensure that victims are protected. (Full details of the Liberal/National Coalition's policy are contained in Section 3 Protecting our Children).

Restoring Local Policing

A Liberal/National Coalition government will address rising crime rates and increasing community concerns on crime and safety by:

• rostering locally based and locally led front-line police to police stations downgraded by Labor across the state;
• restoring designated beat policing rosters for local police;
• undertaking an immediate audit of all desk-bound police to get police back on the front line; and
• allowing local car-theft victims to report car theft to their Local Area Command station rather than ringing the remotely located Police Assistance Line - putting more police on the street.

The 2001 Auditor-General's report states that there were 689 police on sick leave, 448 police on worker's compensation and another 90 police on light duties. This equates to more than 1,000 Police Officers unavailable for active duty.

A Liberal/National Coalition government will put more police on the street by addressing police sick leave. The Liberal/National Coalition will:

• initiate an early intervention program for officers in high-risk situations, which will be designed to prevent, identify and treat psychological injury;
• fast-track applications for medical discharges and appoint more medical officers able to provide medical discharges;
• introduce medical assessment guidelines for the identification and treatment of psychological injury;
• implement a system to identify the causes and types of sick leave taken by police to address the Auditor-General's finding that there is no means to distinguish between normal illnesses and injuries suffered on duty; and
• amend the Workers Compensation Act to exempt emergency-service workers from the threshold of 15 per cent psychological injury to recognise that these officers work in unique circumstances.

Securing NSW Against Terrorism

The Liberal/National Coalition. has adopted a bipartisan, constructive approach to the threat of terrorism.

The NSW Liberal/National Coalition stands shoulder to shoulder with Prime Minister John Howard in facing the threat of terrorism. We supported the NSW government's anti-terrorist legislation. However, a Liberal/National Coalition government will strengthen police powers by extending the period that special powers apply after a terrorist attack to 14 days.

Re-establishing Specialist Police Squads

A Liberal/National Coalition government will restore specialist police squads to fight criminals. The Liberal/National Coalition will establish:

• a new 'Armed Hold-up Squad' to combat the increased incidence of armed robbery;
• a new 'Rural Crime Squad', modelled on the abandoned Stock Squad, which will provide 32 police in total, adding a specialist officer to each non-metropolitan police Local Area Command; and
• a new 'Vandal Squad' to crack down on vandalism and graffiti.

Police In High Schools Trial

The Liberal/National Coalition believes that schools should be a safe place for children to learn and play. Under Labor, gang activity, violence and dealing of illicit drugs have taken hold in and around some of our schools.

A Liberal/National Coalition government will act to keep drugs, knives and gangs out of schools and keep teachers and students safe by implementing a 'Police in High Schools' trial in 10 High Schools at risk around the State.

Under a Liberal/National Coalition government, police based in high schools will:

• undertake initial response and investigation of offences within the perimeters of the school;
• assist teachers in developing and presenting curriculum material to meet Police and school community needs; and
• proactively address identified security concerns within the school and related communities.

This pilot program will develop a relationship of respect and trust between police and students. It is based on successful models in Queensland and Western Australia, where the results have proven that police officers in "at-risk" schools are effective in preventing violent crime.

Reforming Periodic Detention

A Liberal/National Coalition government will address community concerns that courts are allowing serious criminals to serve their sentences on weekends by:

• confining the availability of periodic detention to minor offences only;
• excluding sex offenders from eligibility for periodic detention;
• legislating to make periodic detainees who miss any three detention periods without a reasonable excuse, serve the remainder of their term in full-time imprisonment.

Abolishing Labor's Penalty Notice Scheme

Labor's Penalty Notice Scheme for crimes of violence and dishonesty is effectively a glorified traffic ticket scheme. The Liberal/National Coalition believes crimes of violence and dishonesty must not be decriminalised.

A Liberal/National Coalition government will end Labor's trial of issuing penalty notices for crimes of violence and dishonesty.

Fighting Graffiti and Vandalism

Labor has seriously weakened by abolishing, in 1996, the highly effective Graffiti Task Force, the ability of Police to target graffiti. Incidents of graffiti that can be classified as malicious damage are currently dealt with over the phone.

A Liberal/National Coalition government will:

• establish a Vandal Squad along the lines of the disbanded Graffiti Task Force;
• build an intelligence database on major graffiti vandals, including the identification of graffiti 'tags';
• legislate to lock down spray paint displays to prevent cans from being shoplifted;
• remove the requirement that prevents vandals from going to gaol unless they are persistent offenders, regardless of the amount of damage they have caused; and
• change the Summary Offences Act to give magistrates more custodial options for serious vandalism offenders, including those on their first offence.

Targeting Illegal Black-Market Handguns

A Liberal/National Coalition government will establish a dedicated hotline targeting illegal handguns, offering a $1,000 reward for those who provide information leading to an arrest for possession of an illegal handgun.

Giving Juveniles a Second Chance

A Liberal/National Coalition government will provide 'second chance' community-service camps and rehabilitation programs for first-time offenders convicted of minor or non-violent offences.

A Liberal/National Coalition government will:

• give magistrates wider powers to order young, non-violent offenders to attend special, community-service camps as an alternative to being sent to a juvenile detention centre;
• offer young offenders a comprehensive Second Chance program, including counselling, vocational training, outdoor and wilderness activities, work skills and, where appropriate, drug and alcohol treatment; and
• establish two community-service camps in NSW, with expansion across the state to follow.

Supporting Police Legacy

The Liberal/National Coalition believes that Police Legacy plays an important role in supporting the families of deceased police officers. Police Legacy provides emotional and financial support, including grief and trauma counselling, financial advice and assistance with educational expenses to more than 1,300 families of deceased police officers.

A Liberal/National Coalition government will support the important work of Police Legacy by:

• providing an annual grant of $200,000 to NSW Police Legacy (up from $5,000 a year under Labor); and
• funding the grant by abolishing the under-utilised and much criticised "Police TV Unit", which costs NSW taxpayers $1 million a year.

Getting Inmates Off Drugs

Drugs are a major problem in NSW prisons. More than 1,000 prisoners in NSW correctional centres are on methadone. This equates to almost one in eight of the 7,750 full-time inmates and the number is increasing at a rate of more than 130 each year. In 2000/2001, 551 more inmates came out of gaol addicted to methadone than went into gaol on methadone.

A Liberal/National Coalition government will address the serious problem of drugs in gaols by:

• changing the emphasis of the methadone program in gaols from maintenance to reduction. Gaols should be places where people get off drugs, rather than onto them;
• creating exclusion zones around all gaols where practicable to prevent drugs being thrown over gaol walls; and
• increasing the frequency of compulsory urine testing of prisoners from the current five per cent each month so that every prisoner is tested at least once every three months.